Rugby codes quash hybrid Test talk - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Rugby codes quash hybrid Test talk

By Ed Jackson 24/11/2008 05:34:34 PM Comments (0)

It's a promoter's dream - a cross-code match between the Wallabies and Kangaroos - but there's one big stumbling block.

Neither national governing body appears interested.

A report in Monday's Daily Telegraph said the game to be played under hybrid rules had been pencilled in for an October date at ANZ Stadium but both the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) and Australian Rugby League (ARL) have poured cold water on the plan.

The responses mean promoter Phil Franks, quoted extensively in the Telegraph story, may have to put his scheme on the backburner.

The ARU was dismissive in a short, blunt statement on Monday.

"The Australian Rugby Union has no interest in a promoter's plan to stage a Wallabies v Kangaroos match under hybrid laws in Sydney next October," it said.

"The ARU has not been approached with the idea and has no intention of altering the existing 2009 program to entertain the proposal as floated in the media this morning."

"In any case, it is not the sort of venture that would require a middle man.

"We will have nothing further to say on the matter."

ARL chief executive Geoff Carr was just as dismissive of the plan, highlighting the different physical demands of both sports as insurmountable obstacle.

Carr said he'd heard rumours about the proposal late last week but had not been contacted by anyone connected to it.

He couldn't see how the two teams could play each other safely given the different physical demands of the two codes.

"My personal view is the body shapes of our players and the technical aspects of the games have moved too far apart," Carr said.

"There's no way we'd be able to pack down in a scrum against the Wallabies forward pack safely.

"I haven't seen anything on it (the game) and there's no way I can see that it would possibly work."

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